The killer whale baby boom continues on the West Coast, where researchers have documented yet another new calf in the southern resident population.

The new orca, estimated to be a few days old, was first observed Monday in Puget Sound as the latest addition to the J pod. The baby represents the ninth live birth in the population since December 2014.

“The southern resident orca ‘baby boom’ is starting to sound like a long, sustained rumble, and it certainly is music to our ears,” said Michael Harris, executive director of Pacific Whale Watch Association.

However, he noted that U.S. government scientists also observed a 20-year-old whale pushing out a dead neonate calf during their latest research trip.

There are now 85 members of the southern resident killer whale population living in the wild.

The southern resident population is the smallest of four resident killerwhale communities living in the Pacific Ocean off the B.C. and the U.S. coasts.

20 Jan 2016  Times Colonist — Vancouver Sun